Many consumers view telemarketing calls as an absolute curse. They come at all hours of the day, and at night. They come during breakfast, lunch and dinner. And, invariably, they come at some of the most inconvenient times possible, or so it seems.
One way to avoid telemarketing calls at inopportune times is not to answer the phone or to unplug the phone. However, this also excludes legitimate calls, such as calls from friends or family, and even emergency calls.
Anther way to avoid telemarketing calls is to use an answering machine to screen calls. Using this method, phone calls are allowed to ring, but the phone is typically not answered until the caller begins to leave a message on the answering machine. This solves the problem of missed calls, but only if the calling party decides to leave a message, and even then, it inconveniences the calling party who has to listen to a prerecorded message on the answering machine, wait for a beep to leave a message, and then begin to leave a message. In addition, there is still a disturbance caused both by the ringing phone, as well as the possible disturbance of undesired messages left by telemarketers. This can be compounded if the telemarketing call leaves a long message on an answering machine that must ultimately be reviewed to avoid loss of legitimate messages.
Still other ways of avoiding telemarketing calls rely upon various caller ID features implemented by an individual customer. One such method is to block all incoming calls without a caller ID. However, this method can also block legitimate calls, and it will not block telemarketing calls that do not block their ID. A related method is for the individual customer to screen incoming calls by their caller ID and use the caller ID in the same fashion as an initial voice in an answering machine. However, this method can also block legitimate calls, it does nothing to combat the disturbance of the ringing phone, and it requires additional effort by consumers to screen the incoming numbers. Still another such method is to create a preselected set of numbers that always ring, and then deal with other calls in one or more ways. However, this method, like the methods just noted, blocks legitimate calls, or suffers some of the other deficiencies already noted, depending upon what is done when an incoming call is not in the preselected set of approved numbers.
Thus, there is no good way to minimize telemarketing calls that does not suffer from serious drawbacks, despite the long felt need of tens of millions of consumers. Accordingly, an improved way to minimize telemarketing calls would represent a significant advancement in the state of the art.
While consumers have been frustrated with telemarketing calls for some time, there is also another side to this story. Telemarketing calls sell products, and thus make money. If they did not, they would stop. However, even though they make money, their efficiency is low. Thus, if there was a way to increase their efficiency, and even lessen their impact upon that portion of the public that detests them, both the public at large and those involved in telemarketing would benefit. This would represent an amazingly significant, and valuable, advance in the state of the art.